At a September 18 press conference, Riera lamented the “confusion” and criticism the government received after posts on social media stated that the country's schools were teaching that gender is a social construct, that man and woman are not born as such, among other concepts related gender ideology.

The Secretary blamed this content on an agreement signed between the administration of former president Fernando Lugo, and a homosexual group called “We are Gay.”

The Lugo administration signed an agreement between We are Gay and the Directorate of Ongoing Education. That agreement generated some educational materials, and they remained in use and available on the government’s website, Riera said.

The Secretary explained that his office “ordered them to be taken down and revised because there is a phrase which created the whole problem,” which is “where it literally says that gender is a social construct.”

“I want to tell you that the Ministry of Education is basing itself on Article 52 of the National Constitution, on the traditional family, on traditional values, with dad, mom and children: It's also my personal position and we naturally respect different options, but we're not going to inculcate them in our public schools,” he assured.

Article 52 of the Paraguayan Constitution establishes that “the union in matrimony of man and woman is one of the fundamental components in the formation of the family.”

Riera indicated that he informed the President of Paraguay, Horacio Cartes “where this confusion came from. We all saw WhatsApp, there was some very severe criticism from some quarters.”